This invention relates to a method and apparatus for treating fluids and particularly for treating water to destroy contaminates in the water and sterilize the water. The apparatus and method are effective to treat the water using ultrasonic energy to dissociate compounds in the water.
The use of ultrasound to treat various materials is well known to those skilled in the art. The general principles relating to the use of ultrasonic energy to treat various materials and its ability to result in dissociation of materials and to perform other difficult chemical reactions and the like is discussed in xe2x80x9cThe Chemical Effects of Ultrasoundxe2x80x9d, Kenneth S. Suslick, Scientific American, February 1989, pages 80-86.
Ultrasound has been used for a number of applications and ultrasonic transducers are well known to those skilled in the art and are commercially available. Some applications of ultrasonic techniques are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,978 issued Aug. 21, 1979 to Harold W. Scott; U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,503 issued Oct. 2, 1979 to Harold W. Scott; and U.S. Pat. No. 5, 951,456 issued Sep. 14, 1999 to Harold W. Scott. These patents are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference.
The availability of pure fluids is an ongoing problem in our society. In many instances it is desirable to be able to purify various gases which may contain bacterial or viral contaminates or various gaseous compound contaminates. The purification of gases, while it is frequently required, is less frequently required than the purification of liquids. Liquids, such as water, are widely used for a variety of purposes. Techniques for purifying water range from ionization techniques, to distillation and the wide variety of techniques used in municipal and other water treating plants to produce potable water. All of these techniques are relatively expensive and require extensive process equipment and process activity and expense to purify the water. Accordingly, improved and more efficient methods have long been sought for purifying fluids and particularly for purifying liquids such as water.
According to the present invention an apparatus for treating fluids is provided. The apparatus comprises a radial ultrasonic transducer having an inner surface, a central passageway having a central axis, a tube having an outer surface and centrally positioned at least partially through the central passageway, a fluid inlet to the passageway, and a fluid outlet from the passageway.
The present invention further comprises a method for treating a fluid wherein the method comprises passing the fluid through a passageway through a radial transducer, the passageway being formed between an inside surface of the radial transducer and the outside of a tube centrally and axially positioned at least partially through the passageway.